Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 12 / Friday, January 19, 2007 / Proposed Rules 2487 

[FR Doc. E7–722 Filed 1–18–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration 

49 CFR Part 571 

[Docket No. NHTSA–2005–22061] 

RIN 2127–AJ56 

Identification Requirements for Buses 

Manufactured in Two or More Stages 

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT. 

ACTION: Termination of Rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: On August 18, 2005, NHTSA 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to amend 

our certification regulation to require 

that, in addition to the vehicle 

identification number (VIN), a suffix 

that identified attributes about the bus 

body be recorded on the certification 

label of each bus manufactured in two 

or more stages. The NPRM also 

proposed a new regulation to require 

manufacturers of buses manufactured in 

two or more stages to obtain a 

manufacturer’s identifier and to submit 

information to NHTSA about the bus 

bodies manufactured. 

NHTSA has identified an alternative 

approach to obtain accurate bus 

accident data for analysis and safety 

improvement that it believes is more 

efficient and less burdensome. 

Therefore, we are terminating this 

rulemaking. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

non-legal issues: Charles Hott, Office of 

Crashworthiness Standards, NVS–113, 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration, 400 Seventh Street, 

SW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone 

(202) 366–0247. Fax: (202) 366–4329. 

For legal issues: Edward Glancy, Office 

of Chief Counsel, National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration, 400 

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20590. Telephone: (202) 366–2992. Fax: 

(202) 366–3820. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On November 2, 1999, the National 

Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) 

issued safety recommendations to the 

Department of Transportation (DOT) to 

develop standard definitions and 

classifications for each of the different 

bus body types and to include these 

definitions and classifications in the 

Federal motor vehicle safety standards 

(FMVSSs). Specifically, NTSB 

recommended: 

In 1 year and in cooperation with the bus 

manufacturers, complete the development of 

standard definitions and classifications for 

each of the different bus body types, and 

include these definitions and classifications 

in the FMVSS. (NTSB Recommendation No. 

H–99–43) 

Once the standard definitions and 

classifications for each of the different bus 

types have been established in the Federal 

motor vehicle safety standards, in 

cooperation with the National Association of 

Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives, 

amend the Model Minimum Uniform Crash 

Criteria’s (MMUCC) bus configuration coding 

to incorporate the FMVSS definitions and 

standards. (NTSB Recommendation No. H–

99–44). 

The recommendations were a result of 

an NTSB September 1999 bus safety 

study titled ‘‘Bus Crashworthiness 

Issues.’’ During that study, NTSB 

experienced difficulty in determining 

detailed descriptive characteristics of 

buses manufactured in two or more 

stages from the Fatality Analysis 

Reporting System (FARS) database. 

Although bus body manufacturers are 

required to certify that their vehicles 

meet the FMVSSs, they are not required 

to encode in the certification label 

affixed to the completed vehicle any 

descriptive information about the body 

they install. 

In June and August of 2000, meetings 

were held between the Office of the 

Secretary of the Department of 

Transportation, NHTSA, Federal Motor 

Carrier Safety Administration, Federal 

Transit Administration, NTSB, bus 

manufacturers, and industry association 

representatives. At the meetings, the 

parties discussed whether bus 

configuration or bus use would be 

appropriate determining factors in 

devising a coding scheme for the final 

stage manufacturers’ certification labels 

and police accident report forms. It was 

determined that in-service bus uses vary 

considerably and often change, and 

therefore, it would be impractical to 

develop bus definitions based on use. 

Instead, DOT determined that basic 

descriptive information such as length 

and seating configuration could be 

provided to better identify the type of 

bus body installed on the chassis. It was 

also determined that, in addition to the 

VIN, descriptive information could be 

encoded on the final stage 

manufacturer’s certification label. 

When buses are involved in crashes, 

the VIN is recorded in FARS. The name 

of the manufacturer is required to be on 

the certification label, but this 

information is not typically recorded on 

the Police Accident Report (PAR). For 

vehicles manufactured in one stage, the 

type of vehicle and bus body 

information is already encoded into the 

VIN. However, for buses manufactured 

in more than one stage, the VIN only 

identifies the incomplete vehicle 

manufacturer. The final stage 

manufacturer’s name and the bus model 

are not encoded in the VIN and are not 

recorded in the PAR. 

FARS records fatalities in the 

following bus type categories: intercity, 

transit, school, other, and unknown. 

Little is known about the types of buses 

involved in the fatalities that appear in 

‘‘other’’ and ‘‘unknown’’ bus type 

categories. These buses are typically 

specialty type buses that are 

manufactured in two or more stages. 

They include, for example, buses that 

are used for shuttle services to and from 

airports, for transporting the medically 

fragile or mobility impaired, for 

transporting people to and from church 

events, and for shuttling people from 

one business location to another. These 

buses usually incorporate a cutaway 

chassis provided by an incomplete 

vehicle manufacturer. The bus body is 

usually manufactured and installed by a 

final stage manufacturer. The FARS data 

for the years 2000 through 2004 

revealed that there are about twelve 

fatalities per year that fall within the 

‘‘other’’ or ‘‘unknown’’ bus type 

categories. 

The current system requires that the 

VIN be recorded on the PAR filed by the 

State. However, inaccurate transcription 

of the VIN on the PAR and subsequently 

into the FARS database has been a 

recurring problem. Although the final 

stage manufacturer’s name must be 

recorded on the certification label, the 

current system does not require that the 

police record this information on the 

PAR. 

On August 18, 2005, NHTSA 

published an NPRM to address this 

issue in the Federal Register (70 FR 

48507; Docket No. NHTSA–2005–

22061). The NPRM proposed to amend 

Part 567—Certification, to require that a 

new ten-digit suffix be appended to the 

VIN on the certification label for buses 

manufactured in two or more stages. 

The new suffix would identify the bus 

body manufacturer and certain 

attributes about the type of bus, e.g., 

model number, seat configuration, and 

bus body length. The NPRM also 

proposed to add a new Part 584—Buses 

Manufactured in Two or More Stages, to 

require that bus body manufacturers of 

buses manufactured in two or more 

stages obtain a manufacturer’s identifier 

and provide the descriptive information 

necessary to decode the suffix. The 

NPRM proposed that this information be 

available so that it could be collected 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with PROPOSAL
2488 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 12 / Friday, January 19, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

1For more information regarding MMUCC, go to 

http://www.mmucc.us. 

2Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 

Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. 

and used by researchers and others to 

better define safety improvements to 

reduce the number of fatalities and 

serious injuries in bus crashes. 

The NPRM also requested comments 

on the burden to State and local 

Governments, costs, reduction of 

transcription errors, and alternative 

approaches. 

Summary of Comments 

The agency received eight comments 

in response to the NPRM. None of the 

commenters, except NTSB, supported 

the proposal. Comments were received 

from three manufacturers (International 

Truck and Engine Corporation, Blue 

Bird Body Company, and Freightliner), 

and one industry association (National 

Truck and Equipment Association). 

Those commenters generally opposed 

recording the proposed VIN suffix on 

the certification label and the submittal 

of information under the proposed Part 

584. They alternatively suggested that 

the name of the bus manufacturer be 

recorded on the PAR so it could be 

captured in FARS. Researchers and 

others seeking more descriptive 

information about the bus body could 

then contact the bus body manufacturer 

for the information about the bus body. 

These commenters generally disagreed 

with the cost estimate that was provided 

in the NPRM and suggested that the real 

cost would be much higher; however, 

no estimates of actual costs were 

provided. 

The agency also received comments 

from two individuals, Mr. Jim Lawrence 

and Mr. Duane E. Bartels. Mr. Lawrence 

suggested that the proposed Part 584 

information be specified in Part 565, 

‘‘Vehicle Identification Number 

Requirements.’’ Mr. Lawrence also 

suggested that the agency require that 

manufacturers submit information on a 

quarterly basis and maintain a database 

of the manufactured-supplied 

information. He felt this would reduce 

transcription errors when recording the 

information at the crash scene and the 

burden on State and local Governments 

in collecting this information. However, 

Mr. Lawrence did not provide any 

information on how NHTSA could 

obtain the crash information without 

having it recorded on the PAR at the 

crash scene. Mr. Bartels suggested that 

buses be required to have the number of 

seating positions recorded on the 

certification label for the purposes of 

inspection so that inspectors could 

determine whether a commercial 

driver’s license and drug and alcohol 

testing requirements needed to be met to 

operate the bus. The agency notes that 

Mr. Bartels’ request is outside the scope 

of this rulemaking action. 

A comment was received from the 

European Commission, Enterprise and 

Industry Directorat-General which 

represents the European Union (EU). 

The European Commission stated, ‘‘this 

new administrative procedure could 

represent an unnecessary trade obstacle 

for EU manufacturers.’’

NTSB stated that although the 

proposed regulation does not establish 

bus definitions for the FMVSSs, it does 

establish identification of bus bodies, 

and thus classification for the FARS 

database. NTSB also stated that while 

not defining bus bodies in the FMVSSs, 

the proposal would better identify the 

type of bus in the FARS system, and 

therefore would satisfy the intent of the 

NTSB safety recommendations to 

accurately collect vehicle accident data 

for analysis and safety improvement. 

The agency did not receive any 

comments from States or local 

jurisdictions on whether they would 

change the PAR so that the proposed 

VIN suffix could be captured at the 

crash scene and subsequently entered in 

the FARS database. No information was 

received from the States or local 

jurisdictions on the burden that this 

rulemaking action would place on them. 

Agency Rationale for Terminating 

Rulemaking 

NHTSA has decided to terminate the 

proposed rulemaking because we have 

identified an alternative approach to 

obtain more accurate bus accident data 

for analysis and safety improvement 

that it believes is more efficient and less 

burdensome. 

FARS data and the majority of 

NHTSA’s other data are derived from 

the PAR. There is no indication that 

states and local jurisdictions would 

change the PAR to capture the 

additional VIN information at the scene 

of the crash. The agency believes that 

continuing this rulemaking would not 

provide improvement to the existing 

information that is already recorded in 

the FARS database. It would also place 

an unnecessary burden on the bus 

manufacturers and likely cause greater 

transcription errors in the information 

collected at the scene of bus crashes. 

The agency believes that the best way to 

encourage states to consistently capture 

information on the PAR is through 

simplification of data collection at the 

crash scene, and that changing the 

MMUCC will accomplish the NTSB 

intent to improve information collected 

about bus crashes. 

The NTSB study leading to its 

recommendations was based on data in 

the FARS database for buses prior to the 

existence of MMUCC.1 NHTSA has 

made significant efforts to simplify the 

data collection techniques at the crash 

scene and enable the States to collect 

more accurate data. A 2005 agency 

review of compliance with the 1998 

publication of MMUCC showed that 50 

percent of the States had adopted the 

MMUCC. NHTSA expects even greater 

adoption in the future because of 

provisions in the SAFETEA–LU 2

legislation providing grants for States 

that establish traffic safety information 

systems to improve the timeliness, 

accuracy, completeness, uniformity, 

integration, and accessibility of the 

safety data collected. This will provide 

a greater incentive for states to adopt the 

MMUCC. 

The next edition of MMUCC is 

scheduled to be updated in 2007. 

NHTSA believes that changing the 

MMUCC to ensure more efficient and 

accurate coding of bus accident data at 

the crash scene will lead to better 

inclusion of the bus related information 

on the PAR and consequent 

improvement of the bus information in 

FARS and other NHTSA databases. 

Since this will be more efficient and less 

burdensome while still achieving the 

NTSB intent, we have decided to 

terminate this rulemaking. 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162; delegations of 

authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 49 CFR 501.8. 

Issued on: January 12, 2007. 

Stephen R. Kratzke, 

Associate Administrator for Rulemaking. 

[FR Doc. E7–654 Filed 1–18–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Transportation Security Administration 

49 CFR Parts 1520 and 1580 

[Docket No. TSA–2006–26514] 

RIN 1658–AA51 

Rail Transportation Security Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking 

AGENCY: Transportation Security 

Administration, DHS. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This document provides the 

time and location of the public meeting 

which will be held by the 

Transportation Security Administration 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with PROPOSAL